Improvement in leather-splitting machines



(i. McKAY.

Leather-Splitting Machines. N0.156,489. l f Patented Nov. 3,1874.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

GORDONI MGKAY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,489, dated November 3, 1874 application filed v October 20, 1874.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GORDON MCKAY, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in lMachines for Splitting Leather; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken 'in connection with the drawing accompanying and forming a part of these speciiications, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

In the manufacture of shoes, when soles are made of two thicknesses of leather, it is important to have the thickness ofthe soles uniform through a case of shoes, and for this purpose it has lheretofore been customary to split the taps or slip-soles and the youtsoles to certain thicknesses, which, combined, will make the proper thickness for the double sole. This causes much waste of leather; or itis sometimes the practice to assort the soles and slipsoles by inspection, so that the eli'ect is produced.

My invention consists of a splitting-machine having a top roller formed of a series of cylinders ot' different diameters increasing from the smallestv end by a constant increment, and in partitions placed between the various steps in the roller, and boxes placed at the discharging end of the machine`to receive the pieces after splitting.

In thisway it will be seen that, if all the pieces of leather are run rst through the widest opening, and those that are not touched by the knife are passed through the next opening, and so on, each box will, in the end, contain leather of a uniform thickness, and that the least waste possible will have been made n the splitting, and that if two soles which are in the outsideboxes are matched together, or two that are in the boxes next to the outside ones, or two from the center box, the thickness of ,the double soles will all be the same.

Y a a, is the frameof the splitter; b, the knife; c, the bottom luted roller; d, the graded top roller, having the steps d1 d2d3 d4 d5 diminishing in diameter by a constant quantity and the boxes e1 62 e3 e4 e5, the corresponding receptacles, which, for convenience of handling, may be made so that they can be removed from the machine.

The top roller is grooved between the steps to admit the partition entering into the roller to prevent the leather in splitting from catching against the partitions. The rollers are geared together and driven in the usual way.

It will be seen that this machine is useful in other purposes besides the soles of shoes, such as the lifts for heels, where pieced heels are made, &c.

l I claim- A 1. In a splitting-machine, a graded top roller.

2. The combination of the graded top roller and the iiuted roller.

3. The combination of the graded top roller, bottom roller, and the cutter.

4. The combination of the partitions with the graded top roller and splitting-knife, substantially as described. i

5. The combination of the boxes and the graded splitting mechanism, substantially as described.

GORDON MCKAY. 

